What criteria to use when buying a (budget range) smartphone?

[Roger-O-Thornhill]

If any android experts could give me any advise on the following, I would be much obliged. To begin, I'm not a tech-illiterate yet would not describe myself as a tech-expert. I understand the basics of RAM, mHa, quad vs. octa-core, megapixels etcetera, but for me a phone is a practical thing and that's it.

I'm currently looking for a new smartphone in the budget range and what should I prioritize if longevity is the most important to me?

My biggest annoyance with smartphones is their short lifespan, which is one of the reasons why I would never spend a lot of money on them. My first smartphone was an HTC Wildfire which lasted but had to be replaced because the old android version no longer supported apps, than I owned an HTC Desire 620 which worked just fine but stopped working after just two years and seven months.

I know I'm asking for the impossible in a sense, the best quality for the lowest price, but if I were only to spend a limited amount, what makes a good smartphone? Lots of RAM, good processor (what makes a good processor?), does it matter whether it has android 6 or 7 or 8 or 9, lots of internal memory or does it depend on the brand?

I don't expect that much of a smartphone, various social-media apps, a light game or two, mp3 player. My last phone (htc Desire 620 1 GB RAM | 1,2 GHz Quadcore | Android 4.4 | 8 GB memory) worked just fine for me (although I was careful with number of apps I installed). I don't want/need fingerprintscanners, lots of megapixels and other non essentials.

Some models I'm contemplating:
* Nokia 3.1 (C): bit low on memory and RAM, but has excellent reviews
* Sharp B10: more memory, less praise in reviews
* Huawei y5/y6: less memory but dirt cheap
* Redmi 7A: is that a dependable brand?
and Wiko View 2 GO, Alcatel 3
* also a possibility are older way more expensive models (Sony for instance) that are no one sale, but have android 6 with todays budget range memory.

Anyone who is more knowledgable on this than me and helping me by giving some insight on what characteristics would make a good smartphone for me would be helping a lot.

 

[kbz1960]

Not sure about the rest but for me anything with only 8 or 16gb of internal memory won't do. Constant updates for apps etc and no room to do them.

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! What's your budget? It'd be helpful to know if people want to recommend specific devices.

The amount of internal storage is important, as kbz1960 mentioned. The barest minimum these days should be 32 GB, and the more you can afford, the better. If you don't want to save your entire music and photo library locally on your device, then 64 GB should be fine.

4 GB of RAM has become the standard for now, even on budget or midrange phones. As apps become bigger and more RAM-hungry, devices with 2 or even 3 GB will likely exhibit more sluggishness as the years go on.

Longevity is associated with system updates, so Android One phones would be your best shot -- so focus on Nokia, or possibly Xiaomi. The Pixel 3a is a great option, but I'm not sure if that's in your budget range. Also consider refurbished flagships from the past 1-2 years (you can find refurb'd Pixel 2 or 2 XL phones for <$300 on various sites).

 

[Roger-O-Thornhill]

Of course I would add an SD card and expand the memory.

On my previous device I switched off automatic updating of apps and only did so when the app began to become dysfunctional.

Ideally no more than 130 euros at most.

 

[B. Diddy]

You may have heard this from us before, but SD cards are an imperfect solution to storage limitations. SD cards are inherently less reliable than onboard memory, and can corrupt or fail without much warning. Don't rely on SD cards as the sole storage for important data -- if you do have important data on it, make sure it's backed up or synced somewhere on a regular basis.

 

[Roger-O-Thornhill]

You may have heard this from us before, but SD cards are an imperfect solution to storage limitations. SD cards are inherently less reliable than onboard memory, and can corrupt or fail without much warning. Don't rely on SD cards as the sole storage for important data -- if you do have important data on it, make sure it's backed up or synced somewhere on a regular basis.

So, internal memory is one of the more important factors?
I don't sync for privacy reasons and don't have important data on my phone.

 

[B. Diddy]

Yes, internal storage is one of the most important factors in terms of longevity. That's where apps need to be installed, since not all phones support Adoptable Storage (i.e., formatting an SD card as Internal Storage), and for those that do, using an SD card for app installation is still not ideal. Apps installed to SD tend to run more slowly (since read/write speeds on SD cards will always be slower than onboard storage), and if/when the card fails, that can cause apps to crash.

If you don't sync to the cloud, backing up to your computer hard drive is a good idea. (I'm thinking primarily of meaningful photos -- can't tell you how many times I've seen questions here about trying to recover precious photos of a loved one.)

 

[Mooncatt]

I would primarily stick to name brand phones. Those cheap no-name phones also have no support and occasionally come with malware baked into the OS. You'll pay more for the name brand, but it's worthy every penny.

Other than the memory and storage issues already discussed, I'd look for a removable battery. If you're looking to keep this a while, that will help and be cheaper than a sealed battery when time to replace it. I think mid range phones still have some options with that feature (flagships have abandoned removable batteries since 2016).

 

[Roger-O-Thornhill]

Thanks for the info.
Yes, I regularly back up on my computer.

Good to know about brand reliability.
Are Redmi and Wiko and Sharp good brands? They do quite well in reviews.

 

[Mooncatt]

Thanks for the info.
Yes, I regularly back up on my computer.

Good to know about brand reliability.
Are Redmi and Wiko and Sharp good brands? They do quite well in reviews.

The only one I'm familiar with is Sharp, and not because of their phones. When looking at the reviews, see if they sound like real reviews, or just "wow it's the best" type stuff. A lot of unscrupulous companies now buy good reviews, but they are usually easy to spot. Also pay attention to the detailed bad reviews, as they generally point out weaknesses you'll want to know about.

 

[B. Diddy]

Redmi is from Xiaomi, which is a very well-established company and brand in China and throughout much of the world. I've heard of Wiko, but don't know much about them. Sharp has always been a pretty prominent Japanese electronics company, but they've never been known for phones. Of those three names, I'd lean towards Xiaomi/Redmi.

 

[Roger-O-Thornhill]

Thanks, this all helps in deciding on a device.